Unrest in Jerusalem

by Shani Ferguson

For the past few weeks tensions have once again reached their tipping point and spilled over into our lives here in Jerusalem. Collective chants of Allah Akbar echo across the ancient stones of buildings built long before Mohammed ever declared Allah the one true god.

You may or may not have heard on the news what sparked the latest flare up. Two weeks ago, two Islamic terrorists took a selfie of themselves in front of the Dome of the Rock and then started firing their smuggled guns killing two Israeli guards before being killed themselves. The strange part of this story is that the Temple Mount is generally frequented only by Muslims and tourists - not Jews. The role of security forces stationed there is to keep the peace - and make sure no non-Muslims attempt to pray on the grounds. So, it’s confusing as to why they chose this place to attack. Perhaps, they realized the chaos it would breed.

22 year old Master Sergeant, Haiel Sitawe hold his newborn baby 3 weeks before being killed by a Muslim terrorist.

In response to the attack, Israeli police placed a security checkpoint with metal detectors at the entrance to the grounds. In reaction to the metal detectors, riots broke out as many Muslims refused to go through the security checks and simply prayed outside on the streets. Inspired by the uprising, a Muslim terrorist snuck into a Jewish village and murdered a grandfather, his daughter and son as they celebrated the birth of the newest grandchild.

If you’re wondering why the uproar over metal detectors, allow me to give quick context. While Israel captured the Temple Mount in 1967 from Jordan, oversight of the grounds remained in the hands of the Jordanian Islamic leaders. This arrangement is known politically as at the “status quo”. While Israel has never made an attempt to change this arrangement, rumors constantly swirl among Muslims that Israel wants to build a new Temple where their beloved Al-Aqsa mosque now stands. Therefore, any initiative Israel takes at or near the Temple Mount is suspect. And while some Muslims would go and pray regardless of who they have to pass through, the more extreme Muslims (of which Jerusalem has plenty) view placing Israeli guards with metal detectors at the entrance to their place of worship as offensive and degrading.

The last time tensions broke out in regards to the Temple Mount was in 2000 when Israel’s then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon simply walked the grounds of the Temple Mount. This “show of force” brought about riots, barbaric lynchings and 5 years of bus bombings that left hundreds dead, thousands wounded and millions living in fear of when and where the next attack would take place. Since then, Israel forbids Israeli government officials from visiting the site.

It has been more than a decade since the momentum of those terrorist attacks was thwarted by the building of a long barrier wall (stopping the smuggling of bombs for mass murder). But Israel hasn’t been able to stop the teaching of this radical Islamic ideology in the schools. So all this time, extremists have been hard at work indoctrinating their young to give their all to protect the Al-Aqsa mosque - by life or by death. And if you ask them, preferably by death. Everyone knows we’re sitting on a powder keg. Hands tied by the international community, Israel focuses its effort on the only thing it can do - avoid creating the spark.

I watched an interesting interview of an Imam who preaches regularly at the Al Aqsa mosque. Asked what he felt Israel had done wrong in regards to putting up the metal detectors, he explained that Israel shouldn’t be here and therefore any action it takes is wrong. When challenged by the Israeli journalist that according to Islam Allah ordains all things, therefore Israel’s existence is Allah’s will, and the Imam agreed. He explained that Israel’s existence is Allah’s punishment to Muslims for not being good enough Muslims but that the punishment of Israel would last only 76 years beginning in 1948. He concluded that in 7 years, when the 76 years are up, all the Jews in Israel will either become converts to Islam, or be dead.

We live in a fascinating paradox here. The supernatural is always stirring around us in an irreconcilable conflict between the kingdoms of Light and Darkness. In Jerusalem, the most dramatic expression of this conflict is Islam vs. Jews and Christians. Their god is at war with our God, but their god is also at war with them. It takes wisdom and maturity to understand that some of the Arabs living among us may be dangerous, but they are not are our ultimate enemy.

Only we, who have been reconciled to God, have the ability to come before the throne of God to intercede on behalf of the Arab people and plead for their deliverance from this false god who holds them captive to fear, and anger and hate. And so we ask you, as you continuously pray with us for the safety and salvation of the Jewish people, to also pray with us for the deliverance of the Arab people from the god of Islam. He is not a kind god and he rejoices to see the destruction of those who reject him as well as those who serve him.

BIG MOVE

Even before this latest uprising, we have felt it was time to move from our current home in Jerusalem. Housing in Israel is an enormous expense, so 5 years ago we moved to a neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem to save on costs. The neighborhood was near an Arab Muslim neighborhood that was largely peaceful and we had no problems. But in the past year our kids have been harassed by local Muslims from the nearby neighborhood every time they went outside to the playground - even with an adult present. It has gotten so bad we don’t allow our kids outside alone for more than a few minutes which is hard on them as our apartment isn’t big.

So we have made the decision to move and will be moving this summer to the western side of the city. It is more expensive but we feel it is important for our family’s well-being. It is also closer to our new ministry center and studio so we will be able to spend more time there. While we usually raise funds for projects to help other individuals and families in the land, we are now asking for you to help ours.

A move is a big and time consuming event and we’d like to get past this and continue to focus on making disciples, building strong families, and developing a community of musicians and worshippers in Israel to be a light to our nation and the world. We’d like to ask you to help us with our one time moving expenses of $10,000. Please consider helping us reach this important goal as our move is imminent.

Thank you for standing with Israel,
Kobi and Shani and family and the entire Yeshua Israel team

Ferguson family on Jerusalem boardwalk days before recent violence began.

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